The Next Era
by Kikyo S. Phantomhive
Summary: A large group of Pokemon, tied by friendships, crushes, and rivalries, combine and set out to become a Top League Team. As they grow not only in power, but in maturity, the team will become deeply bound together on their quest. (Thanks to Vriska for convincing me to finally put this story into words. Chapter 1 is fixed now...)


Chapter 1: The Village of Berries

The young Poochyena carefully groomed his grey and black fur. He had shiny teeth and large claws that he took much pride in, and his red eyes had an ominous sparkle to them. He was determined to show Tilas that he was serious about their relationship, because it would be easy enough to lose her, much less get her back. He heard a soft knocking on the front of his home, but ignored it carelessly. He could not waste his time on an interruption. After it was clear the knocker was determined, he finally couldn't ignore it, and parted the door to see Ivan the Teddiursa standing outside, sucking idly oh his paw as usual. Unlike Wektu, his claws were short. His eyes glimmered innocently under the large crescent moon on his forehead.

"Wektu!" the small Pokémon called in his babyish voice. "I learned a fighting move! Do you want to battle?"

Wektu sighed heavily. "Fine, I'll battle in a minute. Wait," he said and went back inside.

Ivan blinked his large eyes, looking at his claws in pride of his new move, Scratch. He turned away from Wektu's house and sat by the door, continuing to suck his paw, which tasted like honey. He noticed his friend, Jinete the Cleffa, walking along, and removed his paw to call her name. A bit of saliva still hung between his mouth and his paw.

Jinete turned calmly and, upon seeing Ivan, raced over as fast as her little pink legs could carry her. She stopped beside her friend, who was twice as tall as her, though Ivan was only a month older than her. The small pink tuft of hair on her head waved in the wind, shiny and groomed. They began talking happily, their voices among the sounds of many young Pokémon.

It was a spring day in the Village of Berries, which housed mostly young Pokémon due to its perfect location. The air was filled with the calls of Pokémon talking and laughing. In the dirt clearing surrounded by many tree houses, Pokémon were gathering to watch two beaten-looking Pokémon, a Machop and a Riolu, sparring. A Mareep named Clarum walked towards the group of friends gathered outside Wektu's door.

The two turned, stopping their conversations as the cloud-like Pokémon approached them. They each greeted him happily, then joined him into their conversation. As much as they tried, they soon couldn't help watching the battle between Klug and Ehre, who were in one of their daily rival battles.

With Clarum and Ivan cheering for Klug, they eagerly watched the two fight. The Pokémon sweated furiously as they pumped fists back and forth, blocking and swinging and kicking and turning circles around each other. Ivan turned excitedly as he saw Wektu walking past, but Wektu ignored him and stood in the midst of the two friends.

He growled, "Can I fight too?" and snapped his teeth.

The two friends both found a time when they could quickly shake their heads at Wektu, still fighting. Wektu sighed expectantly and passed over to a small crack in the stony side of a cliff nearby. He scratched at the entrance, and a pretty Zorua emerged, glaring at him with eyes like ice chips.

"Tilas," Wektu began. She was a bit taller than him, so he had to look up to make eye-contact with her. "You were serious about tonight, right?"

Tilas stared at him, then snorted. "Of course."

Wektu nodded. "Just making sure," he explained, then padded away.

Wektu saw Klug and Ehre wearily sitting back, Klug smirking and talking loudly to anyone who would listen. He walked over to them calmly; his ears perked as he heard them speak of Puddle Cave.

"Despite its name," Klug was saying, "I heard it's really dangerous. But I'm not scared!"

"Me neither!" Ehre snarled, "Just because you beat me doesn't mean that you're better than me."

Wektu growled, "I'll come to. I'm not scared of the dark."

Suddenly, Ivan, flanked by Jinete and Clarum, came bumbling over, gasping, "Wektu, you promised me you would battle me!"

Wektu glanced at Ivan as though he were a king looking at a peasant. "Well, now I'm going into Puddle Cave, so I suppose it's canceled."

Ivan gawked at Wektu. "Puddle Cave?" Wektu nodded.

"I heard," Clarum said quietly and dramatically, as though telling a secret, "That there are lots of mean Zubat living in there, and that they jump from the ceiling to suck the blood from you!"

The group jumped and muttered excitedly. Ehre declared proudly, "I'm not intimidated. A couple of bats can't hurt me!"

"I heard," Jinete said with a quivering voice, "that there are glowing light in the cave, and they're d-dead Pokémon's ghosts!" everyone gasped.

"I doubt that's true," Wektu growled, turning towards the cave.

With shouts of protest and encouragement echoing down the tunnel, the three entered with chests puffed and noses high. Water dripped from the ceiling into small puddles across the floor, giving the cave its name and the three wet feet. Jagged stones protruded from the ceiling, and the drips suspended on their sharp tips. A short way in front of them was darkness so complete that no shapes seemed to move through it.

The three went forward, Wektu pushing in front to lead. In the darkness, the stone cave walls came so close that Wektu could feel his long fur rubbing against the cold stone. He wondered if the cave might soon become too narrow, but quickly it widened again.

Wektu, paying little attention, hit his nose against something. He sniffed it and felt it with his paw. It was a tall stalagmite. When he moved out of its way, he noticed an ominous light flicker ahead. He squinted to see it in the dark, and found his paws carry him slowly towards it, followed by Klug and Ehre.

"It isn't a ghost," Wektu told himself in a quavering whisper, "Its…"

Finally at a close distance, they saw what the light was. A small, lone Chimchou floated in a lake of water in which drips fell from many stalactites hanging from the ceiling. It gazed at them fearfully with its x-shaped black pupils, and its two glowing antenna bobbed lightly as it backed away from them, although they wouldn't be able to catch it underwater.

Wektu gave out a bark of laughter that caused the Chimchou to back away further. "It's not souls, it's just a Pokemon!" he turned his attention to the Pokémon. "Who are you?"

With a shaky and accented voice, it rose its mouth to the surface and said, "Me name is Auditur Factos Sonitus Imitata Pharus Guiar," he fell back into the water as if to take a breath, then bobbed up again to say, "Ye can call me Pharus."

Wekte frowned in confusion. "I guess we'll leave?" he said, but Pharus jumped onto the shore and cried, "Wait! What are ye doing here?"

Klug turned and proudly declared, "We're just exploring."

Pharus had a look of pure awe. He said, "You're explorers?" then slid back into the water.

The three turned between each other, then shook their heads. Pharus frowned, then turned and suddenly swam into the water, where he disappeared. The three gazed into the pond for a moment, although now they could not distinguish it from the rest of the blackness, then turned and wound back through the cave.

As they squinted in the light at the end of the cave, everyone applauded. A young, clean, and enthusiastic Minccino named Silver stepped forward and congratulated the three personally, but was quickly reeled back into the crowd by her friend Dawn, a particularly pretty Skitty. Wektu passed by the cheering group- Klug and Ehre stood in pride and boasted- and was making his way across the clearing towards his house when Arakui tackled his from behind.

Arakui was a somewhat ragged-looking Vulpix, despite her feeble attempts to fix her curly lumps of hair. She scratched at Wektu's back with invisible claws, hers sheathed. Wektu bucked, causing Arakui's weight to shift them both onto the earth.

They scuffled on the ground for a moment before hopping swiftly to their feet. Already, the group surrounding Klug and Ehre was beginning to turn its attention to the two. They jumped at each other, snapping their teeth and swiping their paws dangerously on the upturned dirt.

Suddenly, the cheering died into gasps and shouts. A shadow fell across the crowd and quickly its owner landed directly between the two fighting Pokémon. Standing between them was a large, handsome Growlithe. He turned swiftly and jumped onto Arakui.

Wektu hissed and attempted to jump on the Growlithe, but was batted aside by a powerful paw. Wisely, he backed away, and Arakui turned tail and ran into the midst of the crowd. Beside the cheers of the crowd were yells of protest.

"You can't jump into a fight like that!" a Spoink named Rubino shouted in his voice that made him sound like he had a nosebleed.

Wektu, now standing beside Arakui, advanced on the rude Growlithe, hissing, "Why did you interrupt our fight?"

The Growlithe indignantly replied, "I'm so sorry, but I felt like fighting. You guys can continue if you want. You're both weak anyway."

Arakui yowled savagely and crouched to leap, but was stopped by Wektu, who bumped her in the side. Arakui, compressing her anger with great difficulty, growled, "Who do you think you are?"

The Growlithe replied, "My name's Dashhu. I am a Growlithe with the right to fight," He grinned, showing surprisingly sharp teeth. "Hey, that rhymed."

Everyone jumped as a loud and intimidating bark of anger flew through the air. Tilas shouldered through Clarum and Ivan to stand beside the three fighting Pokémon. Her eyes were cold, but her tail wagged faintly in excitement.

"What," she asked loudly, "are you doing here?"

Dasshu stood tall. "I am here to look for a worthy challenge, but clearly there isn't one."

Tilas narrowed her eyes until only slits of blue remained. "Not to brag, but I am the strongest here. If anyone in this village is a challenge, it is me."

Arakui and Wektu smartly backed into the crowd. Tilas and Dasshu immediately darted into each other in a flurry of teeth and claws. Dasshu, with jaws of fire, scorched the ground, and Tilas narrowly escaped his flames. She proceeded to slice him from behind with unsheathed claws. The crowd gasped as they watched what was an innocent play-fight turn into a real brawl.

"They might get seriously injured!" Arakui cried.

"Yeah, but this is awesome!" Wektu said, his eyes following Tilas' every move.

Arakui, following his eyes, sighed heavily. Turning back to the fight, it was clear that they were about an equal match. As time went on, it seemed to dawn on the crowd that nobody was winning. The two grew exhausted until they snapped feebly at each other. Tilas backed away, growling.

"I have things to do," she huffed.

Dasshu weakly managed another toothy smile. "Then I win."

Tilas flattened her ears. "I'll admit you're a challenge, but I would eventually win. I just don't have the time right now."

Dasshu rolled his black eyes and strode off. With no more fighting, the crowd dispersed into small groups. Arakui disappeared before Wektu had a chance to speak to her, unlike her usual nature to talk to him more than he wanted. He shrugged and headed back to his house.

A small, bright Dratini named Geplas was slithering among the crowd, looking excited. She made her way to Ivan and his friends, deciding who to invite first. The three turned to gaze down at her, suddenly interested at the bright excitement in her eyes. She wriggled around giddily as she began to explain.

"Hey guys! Guess what?" she thrashed her tail around. "My mom said that I could start a Team!" she almost jumped in the air with ecstasy. "And I'm going to invite you guys!"

The three, with gasps of surprise and leaps of joy, nodded vigorously and began talking about the two Top League Teams: Team Infernape and Team Rhyperior, known for being rivals since childhood, and for being well-associated with many renowned people during their rises to fame. As they mentioned becoming a Top League Team one day, however, Jinete suddenly turned dispirited, staring at the ground with tearful eyes. It took only seconds before every eye was on her.

"What's wrong, Jinete?" Ivan asked, looking uneasy.

"I…my…" Jinete took a great sniff before continuing in a tremulous voice. "Wh-what if my parents d… don't let me join! Then I'll be here by m-myself…"

Ivan looked as though he had just remembered a terribly important event. "Oh no!" he looked close to tears as well. "My mum will never let me join a Team!"

Clarum watched them with empathy in his beady black eyes. Then, in a voice full of uncertainty, he spoke. "We should tell everyone to go to a meeting or something like that tomorrow morning at Geplas' house. We can discuss how everything's gonna work, and then we can tell our parents and see what they think. Besides," he turned to the dimming sunlight, "it's getting dark."

Clarum looked around, then said, "Who will, er, tell everyone?" when nobody spoke up, he snapped, "I'm not gonna do it!"

"Not gonna do what?" though her sweet voice was quiet, it carried like a booming bark. Silver walked over to them, accompanied by an agitated-looking Dawn. Clarum's eyes darted straight to a rock at his feet, though it was nothing unusual.

"Silver!" Ivan said, "You can do it!"

Clarum glanced at Silver as he added, "Yeah."

"Can you tell everyone about our Team?" Geplas asked. "Just say that we're having a meeting at my house tomorrow morning."

Silver gaped. "A Team? No way! I'll join for sure!" she suddenly acted as though her and Geplas had known each other all their lives, smiling warmly and rubbing her tail against Geplas' cheek. Clarum watched this closely, but looked back down when Silver glanced at him. "Of course I'll be there for you!"

Dawn cleared her throat impatiently. Once she was sure all eyes were on her, she said, "I guess I'll come too."

Silver ran into the center of the clearing and yelled, "Everyone! I have an important announcement!" all eyes turned to her, all conversations halted, and Pokémon looked out of their doors to listen. As the last bits of speech were swept into silence, she explained the meeting, earning many excited looks.

The clearing was filled with words like, "team" and "join" afterwards. Slowly, though, Pokémon filed off to their homes, some confident and others nervous about explaining the Team to their parents. As the clearing was swept into darkness, the only remaining figure was of Wektu, who groomed his paw one last time. The sly silhouette of Tilas the Zorua paced over to him, and together the two walked into the woods.


End file.
